NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) helped secure $72.5 million for a project in New Jersey to make the state’s coast more resilient to climate change and other coastal hazards. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced that the Department of Commerce and NOAA have recommended the project, which encompasses 16 coastal New Jersey counties, for federal funding. The awards are being made under the Biden Administration’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge, a competitive, $575 million program funded through the nearly $6 billion total investment under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which passed Congress along party lines.
Senator Booker gave his support to the Building a Climate Ready New Jersey project. In January, Booker wrote to NOAA to highlight the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority's advocacy for funding from the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge for this project. And in February, he led the New Jersey delegation in requesting NOAA funding for this comprehensive plan aimed at helping communities across New Jersey prepare for extreme weather events.
“I am thrilled to see New Jersey receive $72.5 million to fund critical projects across 16 coastal counties to enhance our state’s resilience and readiness for climate impacts,” said Senator Cory Booker. “This investment, secured through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed by Democrats in Congress and the Biden-Harris administration, will restore wetlands, implement green infrastructure, and protect our environment while also creating new opportunities for education and workforce development. I commend NOAA for their commitment to fostering climate-ready communities, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact of these projects on New Jersey’s coast.”
“As part of President Biden’s commitment to combating the climate crisis, we are investing $575 million to help make sure America’s coastal communities are more resilient to the effects of climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “As part of this historic investment in our nation’s climate resilience the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $72.5 million to help underserved communities in New Jersey develop and implement new strategies to protect themselves from flooding, storm surge, and extreme weather events.”
“The funding award for ‘Building a Climate Ready NJ’ highlights the advances that the State of New Jersey has made in leading the nation’s efforts on climate action. Ready NJ also advances efforts already underway in the Meadowlands to develop and implement climate resilient plans and actionable nature-based projects through an engaging and inclusive process. The NJSEA looks forward to collaborating with the Ready NJ team to make NJ’s resilience vision a reality,” said Paul Juliano, President & CEO of NJSEA.
Administered by the Department of Commerce and NOAA, the Climate Ready Coasts initiative is focused on investing in high-impact projects that create climate solutions by storing carbon; building resilience to coastal hazards such as extreme weather events, pollution and marine debris; restoring coastal habitats that help wildlife and humans thrive; building the capacity of underserved communities and supporting community-driven restoration; and providing employment opportunities
“NOAA recognizes that measurably reducing risks and coastal-area vulnerabilities are integral components of strengthening communities to work towards an equitable, climate resilient future,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “This funding provides New Jersey with climate data and services, technical assistance and critical resources that support transformational resilience, restoration and adaptation in support of the exceptionally strong demand for these types of projects.”
This project will improve community resilience by creating a resilience planning and project design pipeline to help advance resilience-focused projects from design to implementation, and will also support transformational resilience projects in multiple overburdened communities. The efforts will restore wetlands, protect critical infrastructure, use green infrastructure to address stormwater flooding and urban heat islands and create new public access to coastal waterways and recreational opportunities. Funds will also go towards education, workforce development, training and entrepreneurship opportunities throughout the region.
“Over the last few years, we have seen the detrimental effects of increasing and extreme weather events across the state – especially in some of New Jersey’s frontline coastal and riverine communities,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “It is critical that we ensure their resilience in the face of climate change and thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, New Jersey will receive much needed support to prepare these regions for flooding, storm surge, and other extreme weather events."
“New Jersey’s unique coastal communities are a highlight of the Jersey experience. In addition to the millions of residents who call our coast home, thousands of families from across the world visit these towns throughout the year, generating billions in tourism dollars for our state’s economy,” said Lt. Governor Tahesha Way. “With climate change making our state more susceptible to destructive effects, we are focusing on ways to safeguard the families and neighborhoods on our coast. I am so grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration for this critical funding awarded today to help create more storm resilient coastal communities in our state to protect neighborhoods and families from harm and maintain our beautiful Jersey Shore.”
Additional information is available on the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge website.